Learning How to Meditate

Learning How to Practice Mindful Sitting Meditation
       Learning how to become more mindfully aware through a sitting meditation practice, is a deeply rewarding experience. It creates transformation and healing throughout one's life and death experience, and it shines out onto your family, friends, community, and our world. Mindfulness meditation consists of stopping, calming, concentration and insight. This simple yet profound process results in greater loving-kindness towards self, others and all of life, it also helps one develop wisdom. Peace that is founded in contentment and serenity is another one of the rich benefits of mindfulness meditation. Through deep looking and understanding, we are able to relieve suffering, and experience the joyful art of living with others, and ourselves. Although sitting meditation is only one form of mindfulness practice, it will be our subject for this teaching.
       Mindfulness meditation is the moment to moment awareness of life, as it actually Is. This powerful awareness of reality in the present moment, is free from the confines of our regular identified self, within our ordinary states of I, Me, Mine consciousness. Being able to remove the veil of self, one can experience the joyful liberation of life, with true freedom from self-grasping, and possessiveness. This enlightened view is often challenging to live within each moment of our daily lives, and for this reason a mindfulness sitting meditation practice, greatly assist us in grounding, within this awakened view. Naturally a meditation student will be able to sit longer and shine the light of mindfulness brighter, as he/she deepens his/her practice.
       When practicing mindfulness, we will see all of the positive energy states within us, such as compassion, generosity, determination, wisdom, and kindness to name a few, but we will also discover all the negative energy states as well. These negative energies such as ignorance, greed, hatred, jealousy, anger, and fear can be disturbing to discover. These afflictive energy states have caused us all tremendous suffering. The good news is, there is a way out of these afflictive states, and that is the way of awareness, the practice of mindfulness. When we witness a negative energy within us during our mindfulness practice, we only need to recognize it, greet it, embrace it with our loving-kindness as a parent would a troubled child, and then let it go. We can never progress on the path of awareness by harming ourselves with negative judgments and criticisms that left to have free rein may lead to self-hatred. Loving-kindness and compassion towards our Self is a required part of mindfulness practice.

       When learning how to begin a sitting meditation practice, we first must consider your environment. It is good to have a dedicated space for daily sittings. This space can be anywhere within the place we live, like a corner of our bedroom or a small room in our dwelling. It should be a place that can be made free from distractions, and is quiet.
Some people like to have a simple altar, made from a small wooden table, on which a few objects of inspiration or nature are placed. On my small altar at home I have a flower, incense bowl, meditation bell, and a candle, as well as my favorite meditation books. This is not necessary for the practice but I have included it as an option.
       The next step in our sitting practice is to understand, and develop a good meditation posture. As is appropriate for your physical condition, you can sit on a meditation cushion and or pillows, or a straight sturdy chair. If you do choose a chair please learn to sit with your back upright, not touching or using the backrest of the chair. Once you enter your sitting meditation space, sit down gently on your cushion or chair with mindfulness. If you are using a meditation cushion, make sure only your bottom is on the cushion. Your legs should be folded or crossed and resting on the rug. If flexible, you may want to try the lotus position (legs crossed with feet resting on your inner thighs, and soles facing up).
       Let your mind be one of relaxation, awareness and letting go. Once you sit down, adjust your body so that your back, and head is straight. During longer sittings you may need to readjust your posture if your back or head starts to bend downwards, as this may cause some strain. Place your hands in your lap, gently resting near your navel. To do this, place your left hand down first, place your right hand down on top of your left, with your two thumbs touching, and both palms facing up. With this hand position you can relax, and support your shoulders, and body during meditation. Make a final body scan of your posture, as you remember to relax, and ease any tensions in the body, and mind. Sitting in this position is like being a mountain, solid, stable and free.
Our breath will be the first object of our sitting meditation practice. The foundation of mindfulness meditation is the breath. We will return again and again to our breath, over the lifetime of our practice, because breathing consciously nourishes our body, and calms the mind. When we bring our attention to our breath, we come in contact with the present moment. This is the only place we can truly be alive. If our mind is focused on the past or concerned with the future, we will miss the opportunity to live in the present. Over time, as our concentration strengthens we will move onto other objects, such as our body, feelings, our actions, the nature of life or any object we choose. Breath unifies the body with the mind.  If you are just learning to meditate, sit for fifteen to twenty-five minutes and then gradually increase your sitting time to an hour.
       To begin your mindful sitting practice, breathe through your nose and bring your full attention to your breathing. Breathing in, follow your breath all the way into your body. Notice the slight tingling sensations as the breath enters your nostrils, the subtle wind like sensation as it goes deep into your lungs. Breathing out, follow the breath as it gently pushes up and out the nostrils. Does it feel warmer going out than coming in? Continue this mindful enjoyment of breath for the whole practice period. Breathing is such a joyful and pleasant experience when we are mindful of it. When you first start meditating it is good to sit for smaller amounts of time like ten to thirty minutes, gradually we can increase this as we enjoy our firm, and gentle presence, and the insight we gain from looking deeply.
       We are constantly thinking, fantasizing, remembering, feeling, and generally very busy in our minds. We often live much of our lives this way, unable to truly rest and be free from this dispersed mind. By focusing on our breath, we can finally stop this kind of habitual mind activity, and begin to experience the nourishment, and calm of mindfulness. The actively thinking mind will return again and again as we practice but we only need to let go of the discursive thinking, and return to our wonderful breathing. When you realize that you have been caught up within this thinking just refocus and enjoy your breathing again. This process builds concentration, and develops our ability to go deeper, thereupon giving us insight into the nature of our mind and life. Enjoyment is one of the keys to being successful on the path of awareness.  When you end your meditation, spend a few moments feeling love and gratitude for what you have just experienced and then send that love out to all living beings.  You may want to say, “May all living beings be free from suffering.  May all beings become awakened.  May all beings be liberated”.
      This practice, if committed to, can lead the meditation student to complete liberation in this very life. It needs to be acknowledged that a meditation teacher with great integrity and experience is invaluable. A good teacher can help guide a meditation student through areas of doubt, confusion, and strong emotions that may arise along the path. Nevertheless, one can begin meditating and living more mindfully right here and now. There is a fountain of wisdom within each of us that only needs favorable condition to manifest. Practicing mindful sitting creates a great environment for our wisdom mind to arise, and help us become a source of healing, and joy for others as well as ourselves. We can live each moment of our lives in awareness, and everyday brings countless opportunities to awaken or sink back into forgetfulness. It is always our decision and responsibility. 
        The essence of mindfulness meditation can only be directly experienced. These words are only useful if they awaken a desire within you, to see for your self. One can never fully benefit from mindfulness with only a book level knowledge. The path of awareness asks that we realize the truth within ourselves. This lifelong experience of awareness deepens with time. Only poetry can summarize.
    
     In True Meditation, Only Mindfulness, No Meditator
     True Practice is always Non Practice,  Real Effort results in Effortlessness,
     May you become that which you seek

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Glad you got this started samadhi.

Here is a great online resource for meditation:
http://www.buddhanet.net/insight.htm

May all beings be free from suffering, may all beings be free.

A piece of writing from my practice

       It’s 6am on a very cold December morning. 6 inches of fresh powdery snow has fallen overnight. Outside there is a great frozen stillness hanging in the air. In the dim light I can barely see the large Norway spruce trees across the pond. They look snug underneath their blankets of white. Looking out on the wintry scene I think to myself “ It’s so beautiful”, pausing for a moment to let the beauty penetrate me. The fire crackles and pops behind me, the woodstove is blazing hot. It hungrily consumes the dry black cherry wood that I had cut and split earlier in the fall. I have been up and working on the fire since 5:30. I put in one more piece, and then head into the bathroom for my pre-meditation ritual.
       First I pee, and then wash my face and hands with cold water to really wake myself up. As I brush my teeth I notice what a blessing it is to have running water. I feel thankful that I live in the U.S. and have so many amenities even though I don’t see much wisdom in our government. I know that if I can learn to live simply then others may have access to the things I have not consumed. The tooth brushing feels so good after a deep sleep. Leaving the bathroom I turn off the light and walk slowly towards the simple altar in the living room. It’s a small wooden table with a candle for the fire element, a potted flower for the earth element, a bowl of water with river pebbles for the water element, and a little green bowl for incense representing the air element. Standing there in the early morning darkness, the only light is the fiery reflection of the woodstove bouncing off the sliding glass door. Bhakti my six-year young son is still fast asleep upstairs. I can hear his gentle deep breaths and wonder if he is drooling on the pillow as he sometimes does. I smile, oh well, the thoughts we have are sometimes petty and wonderful. Refocusing I take a stick of fine sandalwood incense out of the holder, light it and very carefully with both hands bring it to my forehead, and then I quietly say the incense offering. 
       In deep gratitude, we offer this incense to all enlightened beings throughout space and time. May it be fragrant as earth herself, reflecting our careful efforts, our wholehearted attention, and the fruit of wisdom slowly ripening within us. May all beings and we become enlightened, may we awaken from forgetfulness and realize our true nature. These powerful words prepare my mind for meditation. I always say “we” because there is never really a single, separate “I” anywhere. I feel as though my teacher and my spiritual ancestors like Jesus Christ and the Buddha are here in the present moment with my society as well as my family, our cat, all beings and me when I practice meditation. I practice for us all, not just my own well-being. I set the stick of incense into the small green bowl with sand on the altar and as I do I notice how lovely the violet orchid flowers are.
       Turning around and stepping back I sit down on the meditation cushion and begin practicing. Eyes closed, hands folded in my lap, back straight, legs crossed but not in full lotus position, I’m just to big and inflexible of a guy for that. Just sitting…, as the title of the Buddhist book says “Being Nobody, Going Nowhere”, my attention focused on my breath. Breathing in, I follow the breath as it enters my nostrils; there is a slight tingly sensation, almost breezy, my mind follows the breath all the way in and down till my lungs are expanded. I continue to follow my breath as it leaves the body; it feels ever so subtly warmer on the exhalation as compared to the coolness when I inhale. I deliberately ignore any thoughts that pop up, concentrating instead on the breath. Breathing in, breathing out, my mind is beginning to become calmer. Breathing in, breathing out, I can feel the solidity and weight of my body. My mind is completely alert yet relaxed and my body is like a mountain, solid and free. This peaceful state flows out from within on the waves of air and universal essence called breath. It takes less effort to concentrate. This initial bliss doesn’t last.
       Up from my subconscious mind a strong image flashes onto this serenity. It’s a beautiful young woman, she is nude and seems eager to make love. A sexual fantasy has come to life in my psyche. It has lain dormant in the depths of my mind as a seed, watered by the media, biology, old patterns, and so many other factors and now it has sprung to life here in this moment. The image is alive and very tempting, in the past I may have engaged it but instead I do nothing. I don’t allow the inner critic to voice its disapproval or condemnation nor do I allow the habitual compulsion to dance with it and let it take me where it will like I have done in the past. I just sit there with the energy of naked lust and natural awareness. Breathing in, breathing out till my mind starts to calm again. Breathing in, breathing out, deeply and slowly.
       A waft of sweet sandalwood delights my sense of smell. I notice a dull tingling in the bottom of my right foot, no reaction just a noting. The time slips by as a few more rounds of mind and its objects like thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams, worries about today and the future come into the foreground. None come so thunderously as did the fantasy and all are dissolved back into their original source by the gentle power of breath. As time passes I can’t smell the fragrant sandalwood anymore. I open my eyes and I’m struck by the beauty and vastness of this life. I put my hands together in prayerful pose, hold them near my heart and bow deeply.

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Thanks for the link to Buddhanet! Seems to be a great resource for beginning Buddhists (like me) ;)

Peace…

Mike

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Hello everyone,

Meditation is bringing back the connection and understanding fully the oneness, and all that is the greatest happiness ever. Forgive me if my language is confusing.

Meditation is a part of me. The biggest answer that my whole body received is “you are born for it.”

 It doesn’t matter what form of meditation you start with; you need to know fully with every part of your body why you are doing it, then surrender and go for it. Fully, dedicate to your practice; it needs the hard work (a regular practice) for the future bright and happiness mind.

 Give yourself enough time for the answer because it will not come tomorrow. Patient has to be a friend of you. The goal of doing meditation is to not looking forward for the goal itself. Chasing (ego) will block you from the true happiness with maybe right in front of you at a time.

It’s very important to practice with good gurus. You do your practice, but open yourself up to the advices and go back to your own practice. It may sound more like a work, so don’t listen with your ear. Allowing your heart listen and bring you back to the practice.

“It’s hot in Arizona.”

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Dear Friends,

      I just wanted to say that I really respect and appreciate all of you who are sharing your experiences with the practice.  I hope everyone continues to meditate and looking deeply into the very nature of this Self we have constructed as well as the essence of nature itself. 



May we all be liberated, completely free from suffering  

Re: Learning How to Meditate

I think… and I only want to speak for myself… but… I think that the most important lesson I can learn for a while is respect… I've heard it over and over again… and it's a tough message to sink in… but I think I'm coming to understand….

hope everyoone's still meditating…

I try and do mine morning and evenings… synchronicity anyone?… I would love to know that others are with me in spirit while I sit….

fondest thoughts,
Nic

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Meditations has always been an interesting dance for me………..

It is work and has not  come easy to me. My biggest challenge is that once I have taken my bows and I have paid my respect to all, and I have lit my incense, I find that calmness and that inter-peace that I love so much but it seems that I cannot hold this space for very long. Most the time I find myself praying sometimes externalities will invade my quietness within.

I have been meditating for about 5 years now and there have been subtle changes. Sometimes good changes and at other times I seem to be in this state of disconnect.

It is in these times of disconnect that I struggle to do it on a daily basis but because I never want to feel disconnect from mind/Spirit, I do a lot of praying.

So with all of that being said, what is true mediation? Is it really that much different for everyone? Is there some magic trick that will keep me in that space that I so love and feel blessed to be a part of.

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Maybe it was somewhere on integral naked that there was a quote saying something like this; enlightenment happens by accident and meditation won't  enlighten you  but it will make you more accident prone.

The very fact that you notice the mind doing it's own dance is an act of meditative awareness.  Jack Kornfield a teacher of insight meditation likens the mind to a puppy we are toilet training and tthat like the pup wandering off the paper our mind will wander as well.  We need to be at once attentive and gentle with the mind/pup in bringing the object of meditation back to focus.  The inclination to pray is not lost in meditation .  You may find the metta meditation useful.  There are great free guided meditations available  http://www.dharmaseed.org

A bird can't fly with  one wind and so the teachings say we need to balance mind and metta is the heart component to mindfulness.

Also available online are Pema Chodron's writings on the practice of  Tonglen which also addresses the opening of the heart.

                                      Hope this has been of some help

                                                                     Blessings

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Thank you for your insight and wisdom.

Namaste'

Re: Learning How to Meditate

A Deep Bow to you All
In sincere gratitude I open the ears and eyes of my heart,
stand in awe of the natural wisdom that is ever present,
and watch this beautiful dharma discussion unfold


May we all be free
May we truly become liberated

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Disconnect will happen to us when we drawn our attention within. It’s great that one can reach that state (first). And it’s easy to understand why one loves it so much because that space is full of peace, serene, and calm. However, it is a great key to bring that state of mind back to life in participating with the world around us without listening all the noises in our head. Then, one will allow oneself to soak up persons or things in front of us as who or what they really are.

Practicing is the only key to open one’s possibilities. I will practice along with all of you.

“I was crying watched King Kong movie today” 

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Exactly.  And that is really the point to me.  Bring that inner peace to the exterior world in service of all sentient beings to end suffering :)

Re: Learning How to Meditate

so, one of the tasks then is to find integration of the inner quiet mind and it’s place in the outer dynamic forms, being the world, our work, our relationships. that all things must flow from this awakened attentive place.
i see, in my own life, that when i arrive to any situation, present, compassionate and open, there is this practically miraculous flow of energy and engagement.

i look forward to hearing how you all find your ways to this place.

Re: Learning How to Meditate

So with agreement to these points about bringing this calm-enlightened state back out to the world for the sake of all beings; lets' do something real in this world today right here right now, possiblities are endless but here are a few suggestions:

smile to someone today

offer lovingkindness to a stranger on the street or a squirrel in the park

Help someone who needs it

be kind to yourself, even as you are

speak gently to the next person you talk to

let your heart overflow with love for all beings in the midst of this life, quietly without bringing attention to yourself

give something away to someone without them knowing you did

listen to someone deeply, sharing the gift of your presence

meditate today!

Re: Learning How to Meditate

I find that addictive habit energies which cause craving for the chemical releases within the body are very afflictive.  They keep one from fully opening to this moment with true freedom and wisdom.  I am learning to see the roots of these habit energies in myself and others and I find it helpful to remember to apply some effort in not engaging them while mindfully observing their changing nature.  Is anyone else noticing the addictive qualities of habit energies in their own body and mind?

Re: Learning How to Meditate

Found the following on Yoga Journal's Daily Insight (highly recommend the free no-spam subscription) for today:

Meditation for Everybody

If you've considered taking up meditation but don't know where to begin, start here to find the technique that's right for you.

By Frank Jude Boccio

A good deal of mystique has grown around meditation, yet it is one of the most natural of our human capacities. You've no doubt had moments in your life when you were not thinking or analyzing your experience, but simply “going with the flow.” In these moments, there was no past or future, no separation between you and what was happening. That is the essence of meditation.

Contrary to a common misunderstanding, meditation is not a limiting or narrowing of our attention so much as it is a focusing on what is relevant. Our attention can be narrow, as in observing our breath, or broad, as in cooking a five-course dinner. When the mind is able to focus on what is relevant to what is happening now, we experience ourselves as being at one with what we perceive. This experience is deeply joyful, as we become freed from the illusion that we are separate from everything else in the universe. In fact, meditation isn't a withdrawal from life but a deeper, fuller presence in life.

Another popular misconception holds that meditation is merely about the mind. In fact, meditation causes real physiological effects that have been measured by researchers. It has been shown to decrease oxygen consumption, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure and increase the intensity of alpha, theta, and delta brain waves-the opposite of the physiological changes that occur during the stress response. Most interesting, research done in Japan in the 1960s showed that veteran meditators not only experienced an increase in alpha waves (indicating a state that is both relaxed and alert) but could also maintain that state with their eyes open-something nonmeditators generally can do only with their eyes closed.

It is this ability to be both extremely relaxed and alert that best describes the meditative state. Countless practitioners over the millennia have discovered that they could achieve this state through the cultivation of focus and presence-in other words, concentration: not teeth-clenching determination but rather gentle attending to the object of attention.

Try It, You'll Like It

Sample the following basic practices and you'll no doubt find that the possibilities are limitless. Pick a method and give it a trial run for a week or two before trying another. Suspend for the time being any judgment or doubt, and treat whatever negative reactions arise as mere thought patterns to let go. Then, if you like, try another method. Eventually, you will most likely want to commit to one and go into it wholeheartedly.

Read on…

Re: Learning How to Meditate

i am very interested in mantra meditation using a mala  …however i have heard that you need a guru to give you a mantra?
What if you don't have a guru handy ? any thoughts/ experiences with this or reasouces you can recommed!